Mangano’s Surefire Snacks

Every now and then, I come down with a serious case of the hungry horrors.  You know the feeling; that growling down in the pit of your stomach that can only be sated by a satisfying snack.

The hungry horrors are normal and something we all experience now and again.  Where people differ, though, is how they respond to those howls of hunger:  Do they indulge on guilty pleasures, or ignore the feeling in hopes that they’ll go away?

When the hungry horrors hit again, don’t pick the lesser of two evils.  Instead, make wise snacking choices that are tasty and nutritious.

Here are six of my favorites, or what I like to call Mangano’s Surefire Snacks:

Ezekiel Bread with Cashew Butter

When it comes to English muffins, Food for Life’s Ezekiel bread is the gold standard.  They’re the gold standard because they’re made from sprouted grain, rather than enriched flour like almost all other muffins.  Muffins made from sprouted grain are much more nutritious because the grain contains all the wholesome aspects of whole grain that the body is better able to absorb (i.e. most breads are made up of the inside portion of the kernel, not the entire wheat kernel which contains most of the vitamins and minerals).  Combine a toasted Ezekiel bread muffin with some cashew butter, and you’ve got yourself a snacksation!

I vastly prefer cashew butter to peanut butter for many reasons, but mainly because it’s void of hydrogenated oils.  You can’t say that for peanut butter, as most varieties of peanut butter can’t be made without the nutrition-sapping hydrogenation process.

Hard-boiled Eggs

It’s said that eggs are the perfect food.  Given their richness in protein, lutein, healthy fats and 13 vitamins and minerals, you won’t get any argument out of me.

But this picture perfect view of eggs isn’t a view everyone shares.  Eggs are roundly ridiculed for being high in cholesterol, as one yolk contains almost 75 percent of the daily recommended amount.

While it’s true, eggs are high in cholesterol, they’re the good kind of cholesterol—the high density kind—making them an ideal food for people concerned about their heart health.  In fact, according to the Los Angeles Atherosclerosis Study, people that ate eggs regularly had healthier arteries than people who rarely ate them. 
Eggs come in any number of ways, but I prefer them hard-boiled because of their versatility; you can eat them on the run, after a workout, on the road, at home, mixed in to your salad, you name it.

That said, don’t just fill a pot with water, throw some eggs in, and come back in 20 minutes when the water’s boiling. There’s a science to hard-boiling your eggs.

Be within ear shot off your eggs so that you can take them off the burner just as the water comes to a boil.  Once you’ve lowered the stove’s heat to a simmer, return the pot to the burner and allow the eggs to sit for one minute.  Then, take the pot off the burner again, cover it with a lid, and allow the eggs to rest for about 10 minutes.

Your last step is to take the pot over the sink and run cold water into the pot until the eggs are no longer hot to the touch.

If you do it this way, the shell should come off smoothly, leaving you with a perfectly cooked egg.  Sprinkle some paprika and unrefined sea salt to kick up the flavor.

Trail Mix

No, trail mix isn’t just for hikers and weekend warriors.  They’re for anyone who wants to fix up something to eat that’s quick, easy and healthy.

But bear in mind that any old trail mix won’t due.  There are healthy trail mixes and unhealthy trail mixes.  The unhealthy ones are usually pre-packaged, where the primary ingredients are high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and a host of other preservatives.

Mix up your own trail mix by making it them with organic ingredients.  The more healthy ingredients you add, the better.  You could use the typical trail mix trio—raisins, peanuts and chocolate bits—but why not branch out?  Really mix it up by using organic dried cranberries, organic raisins, organic almonds, organic sunflower seed kernels, and organic pistachios.

These organic ingredients should be easy to find in the natural food aisles of your local grocery store.

Want the rest?  Find them here.

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Sources
differencebetween.net
foodforlife.com
thrivingnow.com